The other day, when I was going to go to the dining room to eat dinner with a book, I was found by a junior.

A:"Ebata-san, are you going dinner?" Let's go together"

Ebata: "No. Because I read this book"

A:"Do you say that it is important to read a book than you eat a meal with me?"

Ebata: "Of course. Do you think it to be 1/100 of the value of this book to you? How impudent you are!"

A:"What do you read?"

Ebata: "This is the novel which handled a case of high treason"

A:"Was it the story of the His Majesty the Emperor Assassination plan in the Meiji era?"

Ebata: "Sort of. Anyway it is not your business."

A:"Then Ebata-san may read a book. Let's go to dinner together"

Ebata: "Nonsense"

A:"Do you hate eating with me?"

Ebata:" I hate eating with you at the bottom of my heart. Eat a meal alone"

A:"You are actually glad aren't you?"

Ebata: "Any person who eats up my two times a day of "the one meal paradise" is enemy. Get out quickly"

A:"How stubborn this old man is!"

Ebata: "How stupid this guy is! Do you have any good small talk that gives pleasure to me?"

A:"Of course, I have"

The next day,

Ebata:"Hey, watching A is your work isn't it? What are you doing? A was coming to destroy my "meal alone" yesterday"

B:"Really? Did he commit such a serious betrayal to Ebata-san?"

Ebata: "Why do you keep him loose? It is your responsibility"

B:"Such a his bestial wickedness for Ebata-San is beyond my imagination"

Ebata: "Well, I decided to forgive him only this time, because he donated one column topic. But if he do same thing without topics, I will..."

B:"Understood. You don't have to say it all"

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When I told this above story to my daughters, they asked me "Was that a really conversation in the world".

It was almost a true story.